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It is easy to overlook how much of our history is preserved all around us - the way the narrative of bygone days has been inscribed in fields, forests, hills and mountains, roads, railways, canals, lochs, buildings and settlements. Indeed, footprints of the past are to be found almost everywhere. The shapes of fields may reveal the brief presence of the Romans or the labours of medieval peasants; while great heaps of abandoned spoil or the remains of gargantuan holes in the ground mark the rapid decline of heavy industry in the recent past. These evocative spaces provide unique evidence for the way this land and its wealth of resources has been lived in, worked on, ruined, abandoned, restored and celebrated - offering valuable clues that bring the past to life far more effectively than any written history.A History of Scotland's Landscapes explores the many ways that we have used, adapted and altered our environment over thousands of years. Full of maps, photographs and drawings, it offers a remarkable new perspective on Scotland - a unique guide to tracing memories, events and meanings in the forms and patterns of our surroundings.
The diversity of Scotland's mountains is remarkable, ranging from the isolated summits of the far northwest, through the tor-studded high plateau of the Cairngorms to the hills of the Southern Uplands. Colin Ballantyne explains the geological and geomorphological evolution of Scotland's mountains to form an unparalleled variety of mountain forms.
The dramatic story of Scotland - by charismatic television historian, Neil Oliver. Scotland is one of the oldest countries in the world with a vivid and diverse past. Yet the stories and figures that dominate Scottish history - tales of failure, submission, thwarted ambition and tragedy - often badly serve this great nation, overshadowing the rich tapestry of her intricate past. Historian Neil Oliver presents a compelling new portrait of Scottish history, peppered with action, high drama and centuries of turbulence that have helped to shape modern Scotland. Along the way, he takes in iconic landmarks and historic architecture; debunks myths surrounding Scotland's famous sons; recalls forgotten battles; charts the growth of patriotism; and explores recent political developments, capturing Scotland's sense of identity and celebrating her place in the wider world.
This book charts the environmental transformation of Scotland from the end of the ice age in an empty land 10,000 years ago to the Viking invasions of an established society 9,000 years later. When the icefields and glaciers disappeared forests covered the land and sea level rose to create the Hebridean islands. Elk, aurochs, bear, boar, red deer, beaver and horse crossed the land bridge from Europe to colonise the land, first followed by hunter gatherers and later by waves of Celts, Romans, Scots, and Normans, each marking the landscape in distinctive ways. This book brings together environmental, ecological, historical, geological, and archaeological approaches to show how changing climatic conditions and this sequence of cultural impacts shaped the succession of Scottish landscapes which have led to its present unique, beautiful, fleeting forms and variety.The seventeen authors are scholars from a range of fields, all writing for students and general readers. The first six chapters consider interactions of human ecology, climate, landscape, soils, vegetation and faunal change. The next seven are a chronological narrative history of Scotland's environment over 9,000 years. The final chapter unites these systematic and historical approaches. The book is extensively illustrated with maps and photographs. The paperback edition includes a new and extensive guide to further reading.
An illustrated volume that pays tribute to Scotland’s multifaceted allure, from striking natural landscapes to elegant castle living. The craggy peaks and reflective lochs of the rugged Scottish landscape have inspired writers and travelers for centuries. With its rolling hills and quiet hamlets, Scotland is a patchwork of stunning green valleys and windswept moors, scattered with the stony ruins of ancient abbeys and castle strongholds. From the peat bogs of the Highlands to the ordered elegance of Lady Cawdor’s Castle, stunning photographs capture Scotland’s national treasures. Draw inspiration from cozy interiors that feature handcrafted furniture, tartan accessories, and outdoorsy details such as hunting trophies and painted landscapes. Discover Scotland’s colorful traditions from kilts and bagpipes to whisky and haggis. Follow hunters and their dogs on the lookout for fowl and wade into clear running streams where fly fishers catch the bounty of Scotland’s waterways. Includes an address book for travelers and traditional recipes for those seeking a taste of the Scottish lifestyle at home.
Gardens are one of the most important elements in the cultural history of Scotland. Like any art form, they provide an insight into social, political and economic fashions, they intimately reflect the personalities and ideals of the individuals who created them, and they capture the changing fortunes of successive generations of monarchs and noblemen. Yet they remain fragile features of the landscape, easily changed, abandoned or destroyed, leaving little or no trace.In Scotland's Lost Gardens, author Marilyn Brown rediscovers the fascinating stories of the nation's vanished historic gardens. Drawing on varied, rare and newly available archive material, including the cartography of Timothy Pont, a spy map of Holyrood drawn for Henry VIII during the 'Rough Wooing', medieval charters, renaissance poetry, the Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer, and modern aerial photography, a remarkable picture emerges of centuries of lost landscapes.Starting with the monastic gardens of St Columba on the Isle of Iona in the sixth century, and encompassing the pleasure parks of James IV and James V, the royal and noble refuges of Mary Queen of Scots, and the 'King's Knot', the garden masterpiece which lies below Stirling Castle, the history of lost gardens is inextricably linked to the wider history of the nation, from the spread of Christianity to the Reformation and the Union of the Crowns.The product of over 30 years of research, Scotland's Lost Gardens demonstrates how our cultural heritage sits within a wider European movement of shared artistic values and literary influences. Providing a unique perspective on this common past, it is also a fascinating guide to Scotland's disappeared landscapes and sanctuaries - lost gardens laid out many hundreds of years ago 'for the honourable delight of body and soul'.
This book provides an appealing and informative overview of the outstanding landforms and landscapes of Scotland. Scotland is internationally renowned for the diversity of its geology, landforms and landscapes. The rock record spans most of geological time, from the Archaean to the Palaeogene, and represents the outcome of tectonic plate movements, associated geological processes, and sea-level and climate changes. Scotland incorporates primeval gneiss landscapes, the deeply eroded roots of the Caledonian mountain chain, landscapes of extensional tectonics and rifting, and eroded remnants of volcanic complexes that were active when the North Atlantic Ocean opened during the Palaeogene. The present relief reflects uplift and deep weathering during the Cenozoic, strongly modified during successive episodes of Pleistocene glaciation. This striking geodiversity is captured in this book through 29 chapters devoted to the evolution of Scotland’s scenery and locations of outstanding geomorphological significance, including ancient palaeosurfaces, landscapes of glacial erosion and deposition, evidence of postglacial landscape modification by landslides, rivers and wind, and coastal geomorphology. Dedicated chapters focus on Ice Age Scotland and the associated landscapes, which range from alpine-type mountains and areas of selective glacial erosion to ice-moulded and drift-covered lowlands, and incorporate accounts of internationally renowned sites such as the ‘Parallel Roads’ of Glen Roy, the Cairngorm Mountains and the inselbergs of Assynt. Other chapters consider the record of postglacial rock-slope failures, such as the famous landslides of Trotternish on Skye, and the record of fluvial changes since deglaciation. The sea-level history of Scotland is addressed in terms of its raised and submerged shorelines, while several chapters discuss the contrasting coastal landscapes, which range from the spectacular sea cliffs of Shetland and Orkney to the beaches and dunes of eastern Scotland. The role of geoconservation in preserving Scotland’s outstanding geomorphological heritage is outlined in the final chapter. The book offers an up-to-date and richly illustrated reference guide for geomorphologists, other Earth scientists, geographers, conservationists, and all those interested in geology, physical geography, geomorphology, geotourism, geoheritage and environmental protection.
The landscape of the north-east of Scotland ranges from wild mountains to undulating farmlands; from cosy, quaint fishing coves to long, sandy bays. This landscape witnessed the death of MacBeth, the final stand of the Comyns earls of Buchan against Robert the Bruce and the last victory, in Britain, of a catholic army at Glenlivet. But behind these momentous battles lie the quieter histories of ordinary folk farming the land - and supping their local malts. Colin Shepherd paints a picture of rural life within the landscapes of the north-east between the 13th and 18th centuries by using documentary, cartographic and archaeological evidence. He shows how the landscape was ordered by topographic and environmental constraints that resulted in great variation across the region and considers the evidence for the way late medieval lifestyles developed and blended sustainably within their environments to create a patchwork of cultural and agricultural diversity. However, these socio-economic developments subsequently led to a breakdown of this structure, resulting in what Adam Smith, in the 18th century, described as 'oppression'. The 12th-century Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation and the Industrial Revolution are used here to define a framework for considering the cultural changes that affected this region of Scotland. These include the dispossession of rights to land ownership that continue to haunt policy makers in the Scottish government today. While the story also shows how a regional cultural divergence, recognized here, can undermine 'big theories' of socio-political change when viewed across the wider stage of Europe and the Americas.